The hollow eye sockets of the death dragon, burning with eerie green soulfire, locked onto Sefina in an instant. Without even a moment’s pause, its massive maw, filled with sharp teeth, swung wide.
An extremely compressed shadow energy ball coalesced at an incredible speed within its throat!
“Roar — !”
With a deafening roar, the shadow energy ball, pulsing with immense mana, shot out like a cannonball. It flew straight toward Sefina, who seemed unable to react in time!
Just as the energy ball was about to collide with her, the cyan magic array beneath Sefina’s feet flashed briefly —
Fourth-tier Wind Element support magic — **[Gale Haste]**
Sefina’s figure blurred instantly, leaving a faint afterimage behind as her true body slid more than 10 meters to the side and rear.
“Boom — !”
The shadow energy ball slammed into the spot where she had been standing, resulting in a violent explosion.
A circular shockwave of black energy, mixed with dirt and rubble, rippled outward, leaving a charred, smoking crater in the ground.
Sefina had barely stabilized herself when the death dragon’s second wave of attacks followed immediately!
Its massive body displayed an agility that belied its size. Its thick forelimbs slammed down toward her like giant battering rams! A shadow instantly enveloped Sefina’s petite frame.
Sefina’s gaze sharpened as she pointed her wand rapidly toward the ground.
Fifth-rank Earth Element defensive magic — **[Rock Shield Barrier]**
A thick rock wall rose from the earth in an instant, blocking the path in front of her.
“Bang — !”
The dragon’s claws slammed into the rock wall with a dull, thunderous roar.
The solid wall trembled violently under the impact of the immense force, its surface instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks. Rubble tumbled down, but the wall managed to withstand the pure physical blow.
Taking advantage of this opening, Sefina raised her wand high. A complex array radiating a scorching red light was quickly outlined above her head —
Fifth-Tier Fire Magic — **[Exploding Fire Rain]**
Countless scorching fireballs, each the size of a millstone, rained down like falling meteors. They pelted the death dragon’s massive body in a dense barrage, producing a continuous string of explosions!
However, as the smoke cleared, the death dragon merely let out an irritated low growl.
On the parts of its body hit by the fire rain, its dull scales only showed a few charred marks. Not a single scale had even cracked!
The damage caused by the fifth-rank magic was negligible.
‘As I thought, the power of a fifth-rank magic isn’t enough to break through its defense!’ Sefina’s heart sank.
The death dragon seemed completely infuriated by this annoying attack. It threw its head back and let out an even more frenzied roar.
Its giant maw opened again, but this time, it wasn’t an energy ball that gathered. Instead, it was a dark purple laser radiating an aura of absolute death!
Wherever the laser passed, the air evaporated, leaving a vacuum trail in its wake. It shot toward Sefina at a speed that surpassed the shadow energy ball!
‘Too fast!’
Sefina’s pupils constricted. The effects of **[Gale Haste]** had not yet fully vanished. She twisted her body to the limit, and the dark purple laser grazed her shoulder.
The clothing on her shoulder instantly turned to ash, and a burning pain seared her skin.
But Sefina’s eyes remained sharp. The moment she dodged the laser, her wand erupted with a dazzling ice-blue brilliance!
Sixth-rank Ice Magic — **[Extreme Frost Prison]**!
“Crack — !”
Countless massive, sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground like bamboo shoots after a rain, instantly covering the death dragon’s lower body and a large portion of the surrounding area.
Extreme frost air spread, freezing the death dragon’s legs within thick layers of ice. The ice spikes continuously battered its scales, creating a series of collisions and shattering sounds.
“Roar — !”
The death dragon let out a roar of pain. It struggled violently, causing large shards of ice to shatter and peel away.
However, Sefina could see clearly that when those ice spikes struck the scales on the death dragon’s body, most of them shattered.
Only a few managed to pierce the gaps between the scales, leaving behind wounds that were neither deep nor shallow.
Sixth-rank magic could hurt it, but it could not cause a fatal blow. This death dragon’s defense and magic resistance far exceeded Sefina’s estimates.
‘It seems that to truly wound or even kill it, I’ll need the power of a 7th-tier magic…’
‘But 7th-tier magic requires more preparation time and a massive amount of mana to channel.’
‘Under the death dragon’s continuous, frenzied, and swift attacks, I don’t have enough time to construct an array of that level at all!’
‘At this rate, my mana will be depleted by it… I have to find a way to create an opportunity!’
Sefina used the high-speed movement provided by the wind magic to narrowly avoid the death dragon’s onslaughts one after another while her mind raced.
‘Perhaps… I could do it this way?’
A prototype of an extremely risky plan suddenly flashed through her mind.
Maintaining her composure, Sefina reached into her waist pouch again with her left hand. This time, she didn’t pull out a smoke bomb, but a Magic Stone the size of her palm.
As she continued to dance around the death dragon, she performed secret movements with her left hand.
After a brief exchange, the death dragon’s next attack arrived.
It seemed tired of the long-range exchange. Its massive body lunged forward, claws swiping down at Sefina once more!
Simultaneously, the death dragon’s maw opened slightly. Shadow energy began to coalesce again, clearly intending to block all of Sefina’s escape routes!
‘But… now is the time!’
A flash of determination crossed Sefina’s eyes. Instead of constructing a defensive barrier as she had before, she moved forward rather than retreating, charging straight toward the descending dragon claw!
The moment she dodged the claw at the very limit, Sefina poured all of her mana into her wand. A small, cyan array formed instantly at the tip —
This wasn’t a direct magical attack, but rather a stream of highly concentrated wind pressure, aimed with precision deep into the death dragon’s throat!
The death dragon clearly hadn’t expected Sefina to make such a ‘suicidal’ move. The wind pressure slid down its esophagus and deep into its body.
Its massive frame suddenly stiffened. The shadow energy ball coalescing in its throat lost control and began to fluctuate violently.
***
The next moment, something astonishing happened!
The death dragon began to emit a strange scream, as if it were struggling intensely. Its massive body began to twitch uncontrollably, and the deathly aura around it dissipated like boiling water.
The death dragon seemed to try to roar, but only a raspy hiss of air escaped. Its dark purple scales began to peel away from its body, turning into ash before they even hit the ground.
The massive body was like a sandcastle meeting water, collapsing and disintegrating from the inside out at an ever-increasing speed!
In just 2 or 3 breaths, the 7th-tier death dragon, which had been so majestic just moments ago, completely crumbled before Sefina. It turned into a drifting cloud of dark purple dust and finally vanished entirely.
Only the large pit blasted out by the shadow energy ball, and the surrounding mess of battle marks remained to prove it had ever existed.
Not far away, Feliel, who was slumped on the ground, stared with frozen eyes. Her face was filled with extreme shock and disbelief. She muttered under her breath, her voice weak but full of absurdity:
“This… what exactly is going on?!”